Melee Scores Hat Trick, Adds Assist as Petes Win in Sudbury
Photo Courtesy of the Sudbury Wolves
On Friday, November 17, the Peterborough Petes wrapped up their northern road trip in Sudbury for a Friday night battle with the Sudbury Wolves. Fresh off of a 6-5 OT win against the North Bay Battalion the night before, the Petes were looking for their first regular season win in Sudbury since the 2017-18 season. After a big two goal performance in North Bay, Sudbury native Sam McCue would look to extend his scoring streak against his hometown team. Zach Bowen got the start in net for the Petes, on the hunt for his fourth win of the season.
It was a tough start for the Maroon and White, showing their fatigue from the long trip early. Just over a minute into the game, Sudbury jumped on an opportunity and Evan Konyen tipped the puck past Bowen to put the home team up 1-0. The Petes found themselves in familiar territory, having gone down early in North Bay the night before, and kept pushing for an equalizer. That equalizer would come at the 7:40 mark. Off a Carson Cameron shot, Quinton Pagé forced a rebound and beat Jakub Vondras on the glove side to tie the game at 1-1. The Wolves would be in control for the majority of the remainder of the period, but Bowen came up huge on multiple occasions to keep the game tied heading into the second.
For the second game in a row, the middle period would be a dream start for the Petes. Just 13 seconds in, Jax Dubois fired a shot past Vondras to give the Petes a 2-1 lead. Sudbury would come back late in the period, with Landon McCallum scoring to tie it up once again. With the game looking like it would enter the third all tied up, the Petes took control for the final five minutes of the middle 20. It started with a Jonathan Melee one-timer which gave the Petes a 3-2 lead. Two minutes later, Sam McCue kept the puck on a two on one and made no mistake in his hometown, scoring his third goal in two games. After the flurry of goals, the Petes took a 4-2 lead into the final frame.
Just like the Petes did the period before, Sudbury opened the third with a goal in the first 20 seconds by David Goyette. The goal got the Wolves within one, but then the Jonathan Melee show began. Two minutes later, on a beautiful stretch pass by Braydon McCallum, Melee broke in on a break away and beat Vondras one handed for a highlight reel goal to regain the Petes two goal lead. Six minutes after that, Melee tee’d up a shot on the power play and scored for his first OHL hat trick. The Wolves would get one back, but Konnor Smith wrapped it up with an empty netter to seal the 7-4 Petes win. With the win, the Petes would win their first regular season game in Sudbury since the 2017-18 season and stay atop the Eastern Conference.
Jonathan Melee can't be stopped 🔥
The @PetesOHLhockey star nets his first #OHL hat-trick to take over the team goal-scoring lead 🧢🧢🧢 pic.twitter.com/rHzGaHVHz1
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) November 18, 2023
Jonathan Melee led the way for the Petes with three goals and an assist, while Jax Dubois scored and added two assists. Sam McCue scored and had an assist. Sam Mayer, Carson Cameron, and Donovan McCoy all had multi-point games, picking up two assists each. Quinton Pagé and Konnor Smith rounded out the scoring, while Braydon McCallum also had an assist. Zach Bowen stopped 37/41 for his fourth win of the season.
The Petes are back in action on Sunday, November 19, when they travel to Oshawa to face the rival Oshawa Generals. Puck drop is scheduled for 2:05 p.m at Tribute Communities Centre. Fans can catch the game at the Official Road Game Watch Party at Shoeless Joe’s Peterborough. The game will also be broadcasted on YourTV Peterborough and Freq 90.5.
